Thomas Jefferson
United States
13 Apr 1743 // 4 Jul 1826
Statesman, Politician
13 Apr 1743 // 4 Jul 1826
Statesman, Politician
Quotes
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A little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.
Letter to James Madison, 1787
Whenever any form of government becomes destructive... it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it...
Declaration of Independence
Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.
Every honest man will suppose honest acts to flow from honest principles, and the rogues may rail without intermission.
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.
Letter to W. S. Smith. 1787
I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.
To A. Stuart, 1791
I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious.
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
Declaration of Independence
Ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
Notes on the State of Virginia
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On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays
Essays